Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae's most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

The story takes place in Brittany 1845. Ismae Rienne is 14 years old at the beginning of the story, the daughter of a farmer and an unwanted child because of her true lineage, she´s actually daughter of the god of death. Her “father” sells her into an arranged marriagewith the pig farmer and she is rescued by a priest and that sent her to a convent that serves to St. Mortain the patron saint of death. There she is given a choice to serve St. Mortain and be trained as an assassin or sent away to get married to a gentle man. She decides to stay at the convent and learn the arts of death.

Ismae as a daughter of St. Mortain has powerful gifts that help to do her work.

Three years have passed and Ismae now 17 years old is sent to her most important assignment, to infiltrate into the high court with the help of a reluctant Gavriel Duval. Her mission is to protect Anne a 13 years old girl that upon her father's death, she became sovereign Duchess of Brittany and was plunged into fresh crisis with France.

Grave Mercy is a historical fiction novel that has intrigue, romance, fantasy and mystery.Grave Mercy is beautiful written and is told from Ismae´s point of view. Ismae is strong, intelligent, smart, a mature girl, a trained assassin and she mistrusts everyone around her. Duvalisa strong young man, intelligentand gentle(at least withIsmae),I really likedDuval a lot and I can´t say more about it because I don´t want give away spoilers.

This is an amazing book, once I started reading I couldn't put it down, it keeps me on my toes, guessing all the time and having suspicions of everyone.

I love this book so much! I highly recommend it!

Thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Netgalley for the opportunity to read Grave Mercy.

Quotes:

“If you choose to stay, you will be trained in His arts. You will learn more ways to kill a man than you imagined possible. We will train you in stealth and cunning and all manner of skills that will ensure no man is ever again a threat to you.”

“there is a hint of concern. It is this kindness of his that unsettles me most. I can dodge a blow or block a knife. I´m impervious to poison and know a dozen ways to scape a chokehold or garrote wire. But kindness? I do not know how to defend against that.”

“Surely He does not give us hearts so we may spend our lives ignoring them.”